Permeability from Microscopy: Review of a Dream

The Kozeny–Carman and Timur-type equations connecting porosity and permeability contain rock-textural constants such as tortuosity and specific surface area. Sometimes these are combined in single factors as Kozeny constant or flow zone index. The partial differential equations of flow in triple-porosity rocks contain transfer factors, interporosity flow shape factors between different kinds of pores, as well as their individual storativities. Without knowing these constants, no meaningful permeability prediction or flow simulation is possible. The paper reviews the main ideas of how to find such rock-textural properties directly from the microscopic image.